A ‘Thinking’ Party

Partha Sarathi Biswas

(Parthabiswas@gmail.com)

If you have had enough of political outfits that woo the voters prior to the elections and then disappear when it comes to implementing any of the projects or if you feel that politics is just a necessary evil that must be suffered, here’s a chance to check out the credentials of a new political party that wants to change the governance of the country through a professional approach

Talk of politics and the first thing most of us will do is to shy away from it. Other than criticizing the present system very few of us do anything concrete about it. “Politics is the devil’s workshop. We won’t be able to take on the big baddies of the political party”, is just one of the many common excuses that float around. However, some individuals are quite willing to take the bull by its horns as also step on the road less traveled, not at all afraid of rubbing shoulders with the bigwigs of politics.

“Like millions of other Indians we were sick and tired of the murky state of Indian politics and we wanted to do something about it. A few like-minded friends got together and we decided to plunge headlong into this arena. I always relate the birth of the Professionals Party of India (PPI)  to that tea party when we took up the cudgels”, states R V Krishnan, a member of the core group of the PPI.

Formed of and by professionals, the whole outlook of the party and its philosophy is unique, and but naturally, professional. Asked to explain the party’s vision, Krishnan succinctly states, “Our aim is to improve the quality of life of every Indian. In order to achieve this, we want to usher in proper governance and introduce a vast change in the procedural functioning of the country”. To achieve that, the strategy adopted by PPI is simple: to stand and win a majority in the next Lok Sabha elections.

“I know it sounds like a tall claim but we have our strategy planned in the right manner. In the last election barely 50 percent of the total electorate participated in the general election. But then the greatest paradox of the Indian election was the much talked about middle class of India that hardly exercised their voting rights. Going by the recent trends, this huge untapped portion of the population is completely apathetic to politics and it’s them we want to target as our voters”, Krishnan explains.

“We will fight elections the way they have to be fought and not by distributing goodies. We want the electorate to think and to cast their vote by conscience and intellect”, he adds. Obviously, in these days when politicians dole out various things to win elections, this approach sounds tame. However, Krishnan begs to differ. “The middle class that I talk about is a thinking and progressive class. They will exercise their discretion before they vote and the main reason for them to stay away from voting is the absence of suitable candidates. PPI plans to fill those lacunae by fielding honest patriotic and professional candidates in the fray”, he says.

PPI has its agenda fixed and tested. Be it the traffic condition or the way the evil of VIPism has corrupted the whole country, PPI has answers for most of them. “What’s more”, as Krishnan points out, “these ideas are feasible and time-tested. We sent our proposals to some of the brightest brains of the nation. Ex-bureaucrats, scientists, thinkers, traffic planners et al have been invited to present their opinions about our ideas and concepts”, Krishnan reveals.

The election manifesto of the PPI is clear proof of the thought and work that the core group members have put in. “Our approach to the whole process is streamlined. Right from the way a candidate is selected until the time the tenure of the MP gets over, we have everything in place. The biggest change we want to bring about is to make the MP accountable to the electorate. We plan to do this by instituting a compulsory audit of the MP’s account both before and after his tenure. That way we intent to keep the MPs accountable”, Krishnan informs. As is to be expected, even their style of campaigning is different. Through e-mails and talks, this nascent party is trying its best to carve out a niche for itself in the hearts and minds of the thinking class.

To contact the PPI, check out their website www.ppi.net.in. Their email id is ppipune@gmail.com

government, the state government’s decision was unconstitutional, he added.

                The PPI members have demanded that the decision to use BG be re-examined, as it would be an efficient public transport system and would help reduce the number of private vehicles on the roads.